bank of america also higher. two separate reports showed two very different spects of consumer behavior. consumer debt soaring $14 billion. the third straight month of gains. and the latest reading on consumer confidence shows confidence declining. phar-mor sharply than had been expect by most economists. my next guest is concerned that we are going over the fiscal cliff. he ys, president obama seeminglyis intent onpressing his post-election advantage to win tax increases on the wlthy and to eliminate the houses debt ceiling leveraged. joining us now from washington d.c., peter wallace, former reagan white house counsel, form member of thefinancial crisis inquiry commission. a senior fellow at the american enterprise institute. good to have you here. you believe they're going over the cliff. >> i think their is a re danger of this. one can see a path for obaaa that does not look so terrible if we do go over the cliff. all of the taxes go up, but the democrats have an opportunity to introduce legislation to reduce